Safety device for elevators.



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No. 889,686. PATENTED JUNE 2, 1908.-

A. HUDSON.

SAFETY DEVICE FOR ELEVATORS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 9, 1908.

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A. HUDSON.

SAFETY DEVICE FOR ELEVATORS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.9,1908.

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ALBERT HUDSON, Oi LIXGOLN, ILLINOIS.

SAFETY DEVICE FOR ELEVATORS.

Application filed January 9, 1908.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, Annnn'r subject-of the King of Great Britain,residing at- Lincoln, in the county of Logan and State of lllinois, haveinvented certain improve.- ments in Safety Devices for Elevators. ofwhich the folloning is a spimiiieation.

My invention is an imprm'enient in. safety devices for elevators, andrelates more especially to such devices which are applied to mineeagesto arrest the descent of the same in the event the. hoisting andlowering cable or appliance is broken from any cause. In the operationof this class of elevators, which are used for conveying workmen in andout of the mine, and for other purposes, the hoisting and lowering rope.or cable which is connected to the cage is liable to break from wear andother causes, and when the rope or cable does break the. cage. isprecipitated to the bottom of the shaft unless it is provided with someeffective safety appliance for supporting it in such an enrer;

gcncy. in many of the accidents of .this nature the cage is either notprovided with any kind of safety device or with one that is noteffective, and in such instances the cage rapidly falls to the bottom ofthe shaft to the injury or death of its occupants.

The principal requirement of a safety device of this character is thatit shall be entirely automatic'in its operation and not do end uponmanual operation of any kind. Ot ier reguirements are that it shall bepositive in its catch the cage before it has an opportunity to s )eeddownward and theen a in )arts 7 i a a should be of such 'stren 1th andholding capacity as to firmly and spcurely grip and hold the cage underall cor ditions, such as maximum load, etc. A

. The object 0f.my' invention, therefore, is

to provide a safety device ,which will meet all the requirements abdveenumerated, which Will also be simple and compact in construction, andwhich may be readily and conveniently. applied to mine cages now inusewithout alteration of either the cage or shaftin which it travels.These objects and advantages are attained by a particular constructionand adaptation of certain instrumentalities, all as hereinafter fullydescribed and specifically set forth in the appended claims.

. In the accompanying drawings, forming apart hereof: Figure l is a sideview, show- Specification of Letters Patent.

action so as to- Iatented June 2, 1908.

Serial. No. 409,946.

ing the application of my parts of the device being shown in their nor-1 mal position which will not interfere. with the usual running of thecage. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the inine cage and safety del vicescarried thereby, and including a crosssection of the uprights or guidesbetween i which the cage travels. Fig. 3 is a view illustrating theposition of the parts of the l safety device when thrown into operativeposition to support the uprights of the shaft.

Like numerals of reference indicate like parts in all the figures of thedrawings. Referring t6 said drawings, 5 designates the mine-cage, and 66 the uprights or vertical guides between which the cage travels. Thecage is connected to the hoisting and lowering rope or cable 7 by meansof a spreader S, and connecting chains 9, the latter being attachedtoeyes'iilat theup per ends of rods or bolts 1 l which passthroughthenpper and lower horizontal end beams 12 of the cage and serveto strengthen the structure. The cage may truss-rods 13 located at thebottom thereof. These parts are all common to elevators of thischaracter, and are shown herein for the urpose ofillustrating theapplication of my invention; but it will be understood that I do notwish to limit myself to this application. of my improved safety devices,as itwill be obvious the same may be used in connection with other typesof elevators, such as passenger and freight elevators used in buildingsof various kinds.

In carrying out my invention I employ in the first instance a-board ormetal strip 14, which extends across the topof the cage or car at thecenter thereof and between the uprights or guides 6 6, said board orstrip being provided at its ends with which project beyond the oppositesides of the uprights or guides. to the outer end of each arm 15, by aneye bolt or other suitable connection, as 16, is a cam-plate or grippingshoe 1?, and connecting this ca1n= late or gripping-shoe to theadjoining side 9f the ea c roametal bar or link 18, the connectionoi'thcieye-bolt 16 and link 18 being at opposite ends of the cam-plateor gripping-shoe, as shown. As will be seen the arrangement of thecamplates or gripping-shoes is in pairs, and those cage between themeans of invention to an. llonsorv, a ordinary mine-cage, the severaloperative lateral arms 15 of each pair are located at opposite sidesofbe further braced by means of Loosely connected 40' l plates or s oesintoengagement with the upthe upright or guide. The disposition of theseparts, to witz the board or metal strip 14, cam-plates or gnppxingeshoes17, and connecting ars 18'is suc that when the board or stri is in itsnormal position or resting upon the top of the car or cage thecam-plates or gripping-shoes will ,be. disposed horizontally and at aslight distance away from the uprights or guides, and when theboardright. ltzmay be here noted that these'op- '.erative(parts of thesafety .device will be constructe of sufficient strength to withstandthe jar and weight ofthe cage when said parts are thrown into operativeengagement with the uprights of the shaft, and of course the means ofconnection of said parts will be correspondingly strong.

For the purpose o-f-raising and lowering the board or metal strip 14,and to accom lish this operation automatically, I provi e a lever 19fulcrumed intermediately at the uper end of a standard 20 by means of apivotbolt 21 and piv-otally connected at its inner end to anupwardly-projecting arm 22 extendi from the aforesaid board or 'metalstrip, t e outer end of said lever being provided' with a weight 23,slidable thereon and held in an adjusted position by a set-screw 24;Thestandard 20 and arm 22 are each I provided with. a base-plate bywhich the aresecured, to the top'of the cage and bear respectively. Itis intended that the weight 23. will serve the purpose of lifting theboard or metal late and thereby move the cam rights, so that the weightof the cage acting 'throu h the intervention of the links'or bars 18wi'lcause saidcam-plates or shoes to firmly gri the uprights. However,instead of a weig t I mayuse an ordinary helical sprin as 25, and insome instances may find it a vaiitageous to use both. When the s ring isused it is connected. at one end to the lever and at its other end toan'eye-b olt, as 26, the latter being secured to the top of i the cage.

Now in order that the lever 19 may be held so as to normally dispose theboard or metal strip 14 in its lowermost position, and thereforeagainstthe action of the weight or spring, I employ a chain or connection 27which is attached at one end to the lever adjacent the wei ht or springand at its other end to the spreader 8 of the hoisting and loweringdevice, the latter connection being preferably near the center of thespreader. This chain 27 is of such length with respect to the cableconnections tothe cage that the lever 19 and cooperative parts of thesafety device will be position shown in Fig. 1 when the'cage? isproperly supported by the hoisting and" lowering devices. Of course whenthe tension of this chain is removed from any cause, for instance by thebreaking of the roipe or cable 7, the outer end of the lever w lfall byreason of the weight or spring and the safety devices will then bethrown into operation. The cable or rope 7 may break from defectivematerial or wear, or, as sometimes happens, it may break fromoverwinding, that is drawing the cage up too far by oiferw'inding thecable on thewinding drum.

In accidents of this latter nature 'the cage is prevented from fallingthe full depth of the mine-shaft, inasmuch as the automatic operation ofthe lever 19will quickly throw the cams into engagement with theuprights and by gripping the latter will hold the cage suspended betweenthe uprights until necessary re airs can be made.

t will be noted that by connecting the ,small chain '27 to the centerportion of the spreader-plate 8 and having the same of such length as tobe under slighttension when the board or metal strip l lis resting u onthecage, in the event any one of'the ciains 9. should break the extratension coming upon'- said chain 27 would-quickly break the same andpermit the safety devices to be applied;

and in fact unless the said lever 10 is held b the chain the parts ofthe safety device wi l operate to hol the ca e.

From the foregoin description, in connec-' tion with the acconipanyingdrawings, the

construction, operation and practical advantages of my improved safetydevices will be readily understood, and it will be notedthat the samemay be applied to mine cages or elevator cars now in use and at verylittle expense. It will also. be noted that in use the action of thedevices is quick and effective, so that the descent of the ca e mom in'case of accident will be arrested 11 its a plication to an elevator for'mine shafts 111W ichthe uprights or guides aremade I efore suchcage orcar attalns any, considerable speed. i

of wood instead of metal the cam-surfaces of the plates or shoes 17maybe roughened to insure a better hold, but in either instance thegripping action of the cam-plateswill be sufiicient to stop the cage,and as this'gripping action depends on frictional. engagement thecaewill be gradually brought to a full stopwit out subjecting theoccupants of .the cage to a sudden jar. ping of the cage also relievesthe operative parts of the safet device of any excessive strain whichwon (I tend to break them or their jeonnections.

The drawings show the ordinary rectangular shaped uprights asguides forthe cage or car, and consequently the engaging edges of the cam-platesor gripping shoes are flat to' engage the flat sides of said uprights;but in This gradual stopmodifications may be made under varyingconditionsfwithin the spirit and scope of my such instances where heavycables or round iron bars are employed in the shaft as the guides forthe cage or car the engagingedges of the cam -plates or gri ping-shoesare grooved to embrace the cab e or round bar, as will be understood.Other changes or claims. 1

ment, cam p Having described my invention, I claim 1- 1. In a safetydevice for elevators, the combination with the car or cage, cable anduprights or guides, of a strip mounted on the car and adapted to have avertical moveates pivotally connected at one end to said strip, lm'ks orbars pivoted to the other ends of said cam-plates and to the cage, apivoted lever connected at one end to the verticallymovable strip, androvided with a weight at its other end, an a chain connected to theweight end of the lever and l plate, cable an uprights or guides betweenwhich the car or to the lifting cable of the cage and adapted to holdthe weighted end of the lever elevated.

2. In a safety device for elevators, the

combination, with the car or cage, the hoisting and lowering1 devicecomprising a spreader connecting chains, and the cage travels, of avertically movable strip mounted above the car or cage between theuprights, cam-plates at opposite sides of the to said weighted uprightsand pivotally connected at one end to the aforesaid strip, links or barsconnected to the outer ends of the cam-plates and to the car or cage, alever' pivoted on top of the car or cage and pivotally connected at itsinner end to the strip, a weight on the outer end of the lever, and achain connected to the weighted end of the. lever and to the spreader ofthe hoisting and lowering device, substantially as shown and described.

3. In a safety device for elevators, the

combination with the cage, the cable and upname to this specification inthe presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ALBERT HODSON.

Witnesses:

' A. D. CADWALLADER,

JOHN H. BECKERS.

